The Window of Truth
by Mieka

Comment by Konador:
Oh no! This would be so much better if you didnt use the solar flare effect!

The Window of Truth
by Mieka

Comment by tomzinho:
i think you overdid the effect . . .

Market Street
by Mieka

Comment by Gordon:
Critique Club

Black and white works well for this. Makes the focus on the shapes/ patterns rather than what I would expect be a riot of colour.

The person in the scene also adds a lot of interest.

I think the only problem I have with this is how it has been converted to black & white. It feels very flat, with fairly low contrast. Some additional work to make this more contrasty might have made better use of the strong shadows and made the whole picture 'pop' a bit more.

Chopper
by Mieka

Comment by emorgan49:
This is a techically perfect picture. Perfect cloudless blue sky. Perfectly focused moving helicopter. Two contrasting motions. The larger blade caught at one rotation speed and the tail blade caught at another. Composition uses the rule of thirds and diagonal leading lines. the helicoter is traveling off the view to the left and the diagonal line of the stopped motion blade leads the viewers eye back into the picture. The red diagonal stripes on the chopper go in the opposite direction from that main diagonala blade.

The colors are nice. All red, white and blue. Dark against the blue sky. Is it a hair underexposed? Maybe. I like the glint of sunlight on the driver.

But overall it leaves me wondering WHY? Why am I supposed to look at this picture? Does it tell a story? Is it just supposed to be pretty? Is it a guy thing that I don't get the same way I don't know every make and model of cars? It just seems boring to me, though exceptionally well done. I gave it a five and so did everyone else, apparently it wasn't just me.

From the critique club - just one amateurs opinion.

Market Street
by Mieka

Comment by HBunch:
I'm shocked that so many people wanted the color here. I think that with the color, this would be horribly cluttered. There would be too much to look at. Having it in black and white lets us look at what is really interesting, the shapes. Anyway, I was the one that gave you the 9. I thought you did a nice job with this. Aside from the bright shirt, it's a great shot.

Market Street
by Mieka

Comment by Yellowpeep:
I would have liked to see this in color. It would have probably been very vivid.

Market Street
by Mieka

Comment by welcher:
I like this photo. Lots of things to see. I wonder if it might have been better in color, what with the array of different things in the shot.

Chopper
by Mieka

Comment by GeneralE:
Unfortunately whre I live most of the nearby chopper flights are Medi-Vac flights to the hospital...Nice job getting a clear shot with a long lens.

Chopper
by Mieka

Comment by Turbotech:
1)Does the Photo fit the theme?(5)
2)Color(5)
3)Composition(6)
4)Focus(5)
5)Background(6)
6)Lighting(5)
7)Title(4)

Overall Score:5.14 rounded to 5

Commentary:
Personally I feel there is something missing here. I think the picture itself would have fared better with more picture on the left side than the right. It gives a better sense of direction and in turn fits the theme of the challenge a tad bit more. Now was there anything that could have been caught in the background that would have given us a nice blur when the chopper is passing it. I just feel that there is a lacking element. I had several shots just like this one that I was thinking about for this challenge, so I know how hard it is to get a shot like this.

John (TurboTech)

Chopper
by Mieka

Comment by chrysalis:
OK shot. Just right blur of blade.